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Monks form advisory committee in response to PETA
By Shelia Watson
Staff Writer
After several months under fire from an animal rights advocacy group, Mepkin Abbey, the Trappist monastery in Moncks Corner, has started the process of appointing an advisory committee to review the egg production business.
Earlier this year, allegations of mistreatment of the hens by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals stunned both the business and the religious communities, none more so than the brothers of the monastery. An undercover investigator posing as someone on retreat at the monastery shot a video of the egg production facility and sent the tape to PETA.
In the flap that followed, the abbot, on behalf of the monastery, denied any mistreatment of the animals and protested that the video had been produced without the consent or knowledge of the monastery. The abbot later sent a letter to Bruce Friedrich, vice president for campaigns for PETA, asking for the group’s specific complaints and suggestions.
“Our primary recommendation was to get them out of the cages,” said Friedrich. “Taking the animals out of cages is a huge step, and we have cage-free producers we could refer them to so the monks can learn the best ways to manage that system.”
Friedrich said that about 5% of egg farms in the country are cage-free producers.
“Working with one of the better cage-free producers would allow the monks to approximate God’s intention for the hens,” he said. “They were not meant to be caged animals. These monks have taken a vow of manual labor, and even that manual labor doesn’t have to involve animals suffering.”
Friedrich said his organization was first alerted by “a friend who was on retreat there,” although he did not explain how or why the friend happened to bring a video camera along on his retreat nor how the friend happened upon the egg production facility, which is clearly labeled “no trespassing.”
Friedrich’s last communication with the monastery was in July, when he was told that the abbot was “working in a deliberative process to form a panel,” he said.
“We were assured that by the barest minimum the hens would go cage-free, but it doesn’t look to me like they’ve made any changes,” he said. “It’s been disheartening to deal with them. I find it saddeningly and maddeningly impossible to deal with them.”
Friedrich pointed to other examples of attempts to form advisory groups as futile.
“KFC formed an animal welfare panel as a result of our investigations, and five of them resigned in disgust, and one said he felt like he was being used (by KFC),” he said. “Forming a panel is only as useful as the entity makes it.”
Despite the abbey’s letter disputing the allegations, Friedrich said none of PETA’s specific allegations was ever denied.
“There was no scientific dispute about what we found,” he said. “It’s a fact that chickens are smarter than dogs or cats, so that leaves the moral question to be disputed. Physiologically, there’s no difference in cramming dogs or cats in a cage than cramming chickens together.”
When pressed to determine whether a cage-free egg production system would be satisfactory for PETA, Friedrich said, “Even with a cage-free system, the males are tossed into grinders because only the female hens are valuable for egg production.”
However, he did not say whether the investigator had found evidence of such activity, and the video does not display destruction of male chickens.
“They have a lot of property there, so there’s no reason why they couldn’t give some of the land to the chickens and allow them to roam free as God intended,” he said. “Really, we’re hoping the abbey would brew beer or bake bread or something other than raise hens for eggs to make money.”
The monastery is still in the process of selecting members of its advisory board and would not comment on whether cage-free egg production is being considered at this time.
Mary Jeffcoat, spokeswoman for Mepkin Abbey, referred to a statement on the board’s formation, noting that “it is hoped that members of this commission will include representatives from the church community, the egg production business, the local community, the conservation community and others as appropriate.”
The abbot said he plans to accept and implement the recommendations of the advisory board.
Meanwhile, the hens continue laying, the monks continue to distribute cartons to grocery stores and business continues as usual. Perhaps a little better than usual.
“In the months since the PETA allegations, business hasn’t suffered at all,” Jeffcoat said. “In fact, we had a slight bump in sales this year.”
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